LA CAR REPORT—Trucks. And more trucks. Big ones. That’s what the American brands (Ford and Chevy) are showing at the LA Auto Show this year. Chrysler, too, along with a whole bunch of versions of the Charger and Challenger. Let’s not mistake this: anything that earns the name “Hellcat” is pretty cool. So is the Dodge Demon, with 808 HP on pump gas, and 32 more on high octane. But most of what Fiat Chrysler is showing, aside from the Fiats, is pretty much what they’ve been selling for a decade. Is that a portent of a boring Auto Show? Read on. Brian Kennedy reports.

LA CAR REPORT—A few years ago, the LA Auto Show organizers made the decision to add a technology component to the show’s press preview days. It went by the name Connected Car Expo, and it soon played a prominent role in the show’s press days. Last year, they renamed the press days AutoMobilityLA, shifting the focus even further toward new technology and the future. It’s a gutsy move for a major auto show. It has one big problem: The CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas is doing it too—and doing it better. So where does this leave the Los Angeles International Auto Show? The LA Car staff reports.

BACK SEAT DRIVING—This year, AutoMobilityLA, the event I called a brightly-lit rabbit hole last time around, is planning to step it up with a race to “Design and Develop L.A. into a Smarter City”. Like the GM Styling Contests of old, this is a competition among futurists for a complete retool, a clean sheet world where all of the present problems are somehow swept aside and a 15-level motor highway interchange magically appears just where it was needed most. So, the idea here is to present a smarter city, not a better city, not a friendlier city, not a more accommodating city, but a city that is somehow “smarter”. Editor Doug Stokes opines.

EVENTS-— They say membership has its privileges. In this case, the select few who are “Checkered Flag” members of the Petersen Automotive Museum were treated to a private tour of Don Murray’s fabulous collection.